Monthly Archives: July 2015

Will Blackwell-Chambers — 2
James Rogers — 1
Ben Short — 0

The second triple header for the Nankang 5 Club Racing MX5 Championship took place at Anglesey Circuit and Ben Short was the target for the field after winning all nine rounds previously contested.

Qualifying

Will Blackwell-Chambers set the quickest time in the qualifying session. He did a lap time of 1:22.15 and was just 0.1 seconds over Short and just another 0.03 seconds back Jack Sycamore, who claimed the race Short didn’t compete in at Cadwell Park.

James Rogers and Jason Greatrex were also within one second of Blackwell-Chambers’ time.

Race 1

Despite not the best of starts, Short was leading by the time the cars exited Rocket on the opening lap but Blackwell-Chambers reclaimed his lead on the fourth tour at the Banking. WBC then pulled out a 3.8 second lead to win with Short having to hold off the attentions of Sycamore.

Rogers, who had fallen down to seventh on the opening lap, fought his way back to fourth only to have a half spin promoting Jason Greatrex back into that position.

Mike Comber and Marco Aghem got the better of Kris Greatrex on the final lap to finish in sixth and seventh respectively. Greatrex was also dropped behind Tom Pughe due to a time penalty.

Ian Tomlinson completed the top ten. Marcus Bailey got the better of Gianluca Maretto on the final lap behind Tomlinson. Nick Le Doyen and Ben Hancy were also involved in that battle.

Race 2

Once again Short made the best start with Rogers thundering through from fifth to second off of the line. Rogers then challenged Short around the outside of Rocket on the second lap to take lead.

Rogers held his nerve, and despite Shorts best efforts, went on to win by 1.4 seconds.

Short came second ahead of Blackwell-Chambers, who had to work his way up from fifth after falling off on the second lap at Church. He got the better of Sycamore on the eighth tour. Jason Greatrex was behind and had to hold off the attentions of Comber throughout the race and did so successfully.

Aghem had a lonely race and finished seventh with Pughe behind.

Tomlinson came ninth and was able to keep a big enough gap to the charging Kris Greatrex, who had a spin on the opening lap which dropped him right to the rear of the field.

Bailey was ahead of Le Doyen throughout the distance and stayed ahead to the flag which gave him 11th. Samuel Haggarty beat Dale Whiteman for 13th.

Race 3

For the third time Short replicated his fantastic start to lead from the start. Rogers braked very late for the Rocket hairpin on the fourth lap and tagged Short into a spin and fell behind Blackwell-Chambers himself.

Blackwell-Chambers held on to win with Rogers behind after dicing with Sycamore – both switching places until Sycamore fell wide on the final lap.

The Greatrex brothers took fourth and fifth with Jason less than a quarter of a second ahead of Kris. Aghem came fifth after Comber retired on the fifth lap.

Short recovered to seventh after falling to 13th with his spin. Tomlinson had Pughe closing him in for much of the race and Pughe got within 0.06 seconds of him at the flag but crucially not ahead.

Hancy completed the top ten with Le Doyen, Maretto and Haggarty behind. Maretto passed Haggarty on the ninth lap to claim 12th.

Heading to Anglesey it looked as Short was going to be unstoppable this season but win number ten did not come in any of the three races and in fact his team-mate and closest series challenger Blackwell-Chambers will have closed the championship gap by a significant margin. The two Sunday races were action-packed and can be relived on Motors TV in the coming weeks.

Prior to the TV programme going out the next two rounds of the championship will take place at Snetterton on the 200 Circuit which is perfect for MX5’s with slipstreaming down the two straights making overtaking and re-overtaking very possible.

Dengate and Mutch share victories

Early entries were needed to secure a grid spot for the 750MC Sports Specials trip to Cadwell Park meaning unfortunately Chris Lovett, the runaway winner at Croft missed out leaving the door wide open for Kevin Dengate to capitalise on this misfortune.

Qualifying

With rain in the air and a dying track, qualifying was set to be a hard fought battle and it didn’t disappoint! Kevin Dengate hit the track running and put in a good first 4 laps with Stewart Mutch taking longer to get up-to race pace. Russell Clarke, Micky Scott and Sylvia Mutch were just settling into the flow when one of the other Sports Specials runners hit the wall coming down from the Goose-neck and red flagged the session. With only 3 laps being completed most, and the 2 fastest laps being used for the grid positions, many of the cars were out of position for the grid line-up.

Race 1

Dengate started at the front of the MX150Rs with Stewart Mutch directly behind him. Scott lined up behind Clark with the only non-supercharged car of Sylvia Mutch completing the grid.

Stewart Mutch got a blistering start and had the jump on Dengate before they crossed the start line but had to lift on the exit of Charlies to avoid rear-ending the car in front and allowed Dengate to close back up and make the pass down Park Straight.

Scott got a better launch than Clarke and by the end of the first lap had taken the place, Mutch was still finding the grip on a damp and drying circuit and was determined to keep the cars she out qualified behind her.

Dengate was pulling out a healthy lead with Mutch struggling with the wet setup on a dry track and outbraked himself going into Park Corner on Lap 2 and spun on the wet grass.

This allowed Clarke who had retaken the position and Scott to go past. On lap 3, another Sports Specials driver hit the wall and for the second time of the day the red flag was brought out.

The grid was reformed using the previous laps positions meaning Dengate was at the front, Scott and Clarke were side-by-side, Stewart Mutch 2 rows further back and Sylvia Mutch just behind. Another good launch at the restart from Mutch saw him take 4 places before Park Straight with Scott getting the jump on Clarke and defending well into Park Corner allowed him to keep the place through Chris Curve. The places stayed the same for the rest of the lap with Scott defending his position from Clarke and Mutch right on the back of him going into Chris Curve.

Clarke make a daring move around the outside going into the Gooseneck to take second from Scott!
Mutch lunged down the inside of his team mate Scott into Mansfield and brushed the rear wheel of Scotts car resulting in Scott completing a perfect 360 on the exit.

Due to the red flag, the shortened race was only 3 laps long, so Mutch spent the last lap hunting down Clarke in an effort to get back into second. Dengate had a comfortable lead and crossed the line first. Further back, the straight line speeds of Clarke and Mutch being so evenly matched, overtaking would have to wait for the bends. Mutch had a good run out of the Gooseneck and had the inside line going through Mansfield but Clarke wasn’t giving up the place easily. Both were side-by-side along the straight upto the mountain where Mutch held the inside line and Clarke relinquished the place to finish third.
Scott made a good recovery from his spin to cross the line fourth, with Sylvia Mutch completing her first race at Cadwell Park in fifth.

Race 2

With the weather improving significantly over night, the crowd were set for an action packed second race. The grid formed up as the previous day with Dengate up front, Stewart Mutch just behind, Clarke then Scott, with Sylvia Mutch snapping at their heels.

Dengate got another poor start and was bumped by the MEV Rocket of Leighton Norris allowing Mutch to take the lead. The red mist descended on Dengate and he was hot on the heels of Mutch down the Park Straight. Mutch who obviously learned from the previous day’s pass managed to hold the place down the straight into Park corner while Dengate tried everything to pass.

A good drive over the Mountain brought Dengate alongside Mutch going into Hall Bends, with Mutch on the left and Dengate on the right, neither were going to relent. Dengate had his nose in front into the first left hander but got a rear wheel on the grass, Mutch took the inside grass to avoid the inevitable spin Dengate was starting. Mutch kept the car pointing forwards and got back onto the track leaving Dengate cursing his impatience.

Further back Clarke was easing away from Scott and Sylvia Mutch was battling hard to keep her place from one of the more powerful Sports Specials Class B competitors.

Mutch didn’t have any more hassle from Dengate and took the win with relative ease by over 15 seconds. Dengate eventually retired 2 laps from the finish with a misfire, promoting Clarke to second nearly 45 seconds ahead of Scott. Syliva Mutch rounded up the top 4.

The series now has a 6 week summer holiday before rounds 9 and 10 at Snetterton on August 1st and 2nd.

Sycamore takes maiden win, but Short makes it 9 from 9

Three races were needed for rounds 8 and 9 of the 5Club Racing Nankang MX5 Championship at Cadwell Park due to such a large entry which meant the whole field couldn’t fit onto one grid. Therefore, a group system was utilised where three races took place and each driver would compete in two races so everyone races everyone.

Qualifying

All the cars took to the circuit during a 15 minute qualifying session, but once more nobody could stop championship leader and unbeaten racer this season, although the rest are getting closer to Ben Short.

He set a time of 1:45.90 and was just 0.13 seconds faster than Jack Sycamore. James Rogers and Will Blackwell-Chambers were also within a second of Short’s pole lap.

Grant Williamson was the best of the rest with Jason Greatrex, Mark Willetts, Adam Bessell, Michael Comber and Daniel Stewart just behind him.

Race 1

Groups B and C raced first which would mean 2015 would see a new winner as Short wouldn’t be competing. Sycamore converted his pole into an early race lead with Rogers chasing. A mistake for Sycamore through the Gooseneck on the opening lap actually worked to his advantage as Rogers had to slow to avoid running into him and that allowed Greatrex briefly into second.

Rogers got back ahead of Greatrex on the second lap but the three second advantage that Sycamore had pulled out was too much for Rogers to catch, therefore meaning the podium remained as Sycamore, Rogers and Greatrex.

Williamson ran in fourth briefly but fell eighth on the third lap promoting a flying Adam Bessell to fourth with Mike Comber chasing. Scott Leach came sixth after James Harris fell down to tenth.

That meant Williamson came seventh and followed Leach right to the flag with Stephen Craggs behind the pair on them.

Marco Aghem, Harris and Alec Livesley all came across the line within 0.06 seconds in the battle for ninth. Stuart Brittle was the best of the rest.

Race 2

Normal service was resumed when groups C and A took to the circuit as Short immediately beat Rogers off of the line. Rogers then also lost out when Blackwell-Chambers passed him a few laps later. A nose-to-tail battle for the lead followed and Short led home a BS Motorsport 1-2 with Rogers in third.

Mike Comber, who seems to be getting to grips with the Mk1 Mx5’s, ran fifth all race maintaining a gap to Greatrex. Jason’s brother Kris came home sixth after a quick start, moving up from tenth.

Paul Monteith won a tight battle for seventh. He passed Matthew Short at half distance then had to hold off Mark Willett and Harris as Short fell to tenth. Sebastien Fisher was also involved in that scrap – but at the rear of it.

Ben Hancy was next up and held off Scott Aprigliano and Ian Tomlinson. Stewart was running comfortably within the top ten but retired at Charlies on lap four.

Race 3

Groups A and B raced last and had the most hotly tested battle for the win. Oddly, Sycamore was saved by a red flag as he initially made an awful start – dropping him half way down the field. The red flag was caused by an incident involving Nick Le Doyen, Tomlinson and Paul Read at Park Corner.

All Drivers OK.

A restart followed in which Short led from Blackwell-Chambers and, this time, Sycamore. After attempting it in the previous laps, WBC made a bold move on Short in Hall Bends on the penultimate lap. A strong run off of Barn though saw Short slipstream pass into Coppice.

He managed to hold Blackwell-Chambers and Sycamore off who both attempted a pass at Mansfield on the final lap.

Bessell took fourth after passing Williamson on the penultimate lap and fast starting Kris Greatrex retired at mid-distance. Williamson, blew an engine, and also retired which allowed Craggs into fifth with Aghem, Stewart and Leach close behind.

Fisher beat Livesley to ninth after a tight battle. Scott Aprigliano, who also appeared to be a fast starter from the rear of the grid, chased them home.

Adam Bessell was awarded the “MeisterR driver of the event”

Stephen Craggs won the “ BS Motorsport Masters Trophy”
( Craggs and Leach now make it 2 each in the Masters )

Once again Ben Short is proving tough to beat and no one still is able to do it although Jack Sycamore took his first victory in the category.

The Championship next heads to Anglesey for a triple header in which each driver will race three times. Will Blackwell-Chambers and James Rogers amongst others will be bidding to beat runaway championship leader, Short.